Electrical regulator



Nov. 1, 1949 J. J. ROOT ELECTRICAL REGULATOR Filed 001:. 4, 1945 IEcc:2525:2522

Patented Nov. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL REGULATORJohn J. Root, New York, N. Y.

Application October 4, 1945, Serial No. 620,281

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to electrical regulating apparatus, and moreparticularly to a device designed to stabilize the output of anelectrical system.

Many forms of voltage regulators or controls are known to the art. Oneof these is a vibrator type of regulator which operates by virtue of anelectromagnet arranged for vibrating co-action with a contact. Thecontact serves to periodically interpose a resistance in the circuit,the vibration of the contact thus effecting a decrease of the averagecurrent value. While my invention lends itself to an environment whereinsuch voltage regulators are found, it will be apparent from thedescription to follow that the improvement set forth herein isapplicable to a wide variety of systems and conditions wherein voltageor even frequency variations must be automatically corrected.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an efficientregulator for correcting deviations from a standard reference level,such as may be applicable to automatic voltage regulators.

Another object of this invention is to produce a mechanical movement inresponse to an electrical stimulus, which movement will serve to changethe electrical circuit characteristics and neutralize the stimulus sothat the circuit is automatically stabilized by the action of themechanical element. Allied with this object is a provision of such adevice wherein the mechanical movement is highly amplified in relationto the stimulus that produces it. In this way a slight deviation fromregularity can be detected and neutralized efiiciently by virtue of theamplified and neutralizing motion it produces. Accordingly, a circuitfor voltage or frequency regulation or the like may be provided whereina minimum of physical movement may be required to control a substantialchange in the value of an electrical component.

Another object of this invention is to provide a voltage regulatorcircuit, which shall be capable of handling large values of electricalcurrent, and further, wherein no vibration, buzzing, or constantmechanical motion attends the operation of the device.

Still another object of this invention is to produce a mechanicalmovement for altering the characteristics of an electrical circuitwherein the sensitivity of the device may be easily regulated so as tocontrol the extent of said movement and the effect thereof on thecircuit.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent in the followingdescription, it being understood that the above general statement of theobjects of my invention are intended to describe and not to limit it inany manner.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the apparatus in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 22 of Fig. 1, Viewed as indicated bythe arrows.

Fig. 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically an electrical circuit embodying theinvention disclosed herein.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating the rocking movement of theregulating element.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a capacitor element used in a modifiedembodiment of the invention.

The apparatus includes a supporting frame ID of electrically insulatingmaterial upon which the components of the apparatus may be mounted.Supported on frame ID are a pair of resistance elements II and I2 whichare maintained in an upright position by means of the stand-offinsulators l3 and I4, suitable bolts l5 serving to secure these elementstogether.

Resistance elements II and I2 may be made of any commercial type ofelectrical resistive material, such as the well known Nichrome. Theseresistive elements may be provided with off-set ends l6 and I! so thatincorporation in a suitable circuit is facilitated, as illustrated inFigure 4.

An arcuate member I8 is arranged to rock upon the resistance elements II and I2 jointly so as to bridge these resistance elements alongprogressively varying lengths thereof, depending upon the rocking motionof the arcuate member I 8. It will be apparent that as arcuate member I8is rocked so that its top end abuts the resistance elements, theelectrical resistance between points l6 and I1 will be increased due tothe increased length of the elements which are caused to be in anelectrically series relationship by the bridging effect of the arcuatemember 18. Arcuate member I8 is, of course, of electrically conductivematerial such as copper or silver, or any other suitable material. Onthe other hand, when arcuate member I8 is caused to rock in the oppositedirection so that correspondingly decreased lengths of resistanceelements II and I2 are incorporated in the series relationship, a lowerresistance is produced.

The action of the arcuate member 53 in accomplishing the above mentionedresistance variations is schematically shown in Figure 5, the full linesthereof indicating the position of the arcuate member where higherresistance is accomplished and the dotted. lines ind ca in its positionafter being rocked so as to produce a lower resistance. It is, ofcourse, unnecessary that both elements I I and I2 represent electricalresistances, since should only one of these represent a resistance, thesame effect would be achieved although in more gradual resistancevariations.

Actuating means for acuate member I 8 are disposed at the ends thereof.The wire or rod I9 is connected to bracket at the top end of arcuatemember I8. It will be apparent that by pulling rod I9, arcuate member I8will be caused to rock in a direction toward the top of the resistanceelements. A similar rod or wire 2 I, connected to a bracket 22 securedto the lower end of arcuate member 58, is arranged to produce acounterforce ten-cling to rock the arcuate member I8 in the oppositedirection or in the direction of lowered resistance. A spring 23 havingone terminal thereof connected to the frame It], has its other terminalconnected to the wire 2I so that the action of the spring 23 is tomaintain the apparatus in the low resistance state. Means for producinga pulling force upon Wire I9 is afforded by armature 24 of electromagnet25. Eleotromagnet 25 is connected to frame It! as by bolts 26. The usualflux producing winding 21 is provided on the electromagnet 25.

The armature 24 is pivoted at 28 to the core of the electromagnet andspring 29, connected at one of its terminals to the frame Ill, serves tomaintain armature 24 in an outward posi tion relative to theelectromagnet so that the arcuate member I8 is maintained in a positionof rest or balance depending upon the relative strengths of springs 23and 29. If desired, suitable stop means may be provided on electromagnet 25 to limit the outward movement of armature 24. t will beunderstood that wires I9 and 2I work in opposition, actuation for eachwire being supplied respectivel by the armature 2-4 and spring 23.

In order to avoid slippage of the arcuate member I8 which would producea longitudinal movement thereof in a manner other than by rocking, atoothed rack 30 is arranged to mesh with an arcuate bracket 3i securedto the arcu ate member I8. Thus, rocking motion of the arcuate member I8will eifect engagement of the respective teeth of the meshing members sothat whereas rocking motion will be permitted, relative sliding will beprevented. It will be apparent that the function of rack 30 may berealized by various other mechanical devices such as curved guidingmeans designed to maintain the ends of arcuate member I8 in a particularpath.

The apparatus above described is adapted to be incorporated in anelectrical circuit through the leads 32 and 33 of electromagnet 25. Inthe event of an increase in voltage in the circuit, armature 24 will beattracted by the increased flux so as to rock arcuate member I8 toward ahigher resistance condition. Thus additional resistance is injected intothe circuit until the increased resistance balances the circuit voltagegain. Should the voltage decrease, the attraction of armature 24 Will beaccordingly relaxed and a lowered value of resistance will beincorporated in the circuit. Thus, the apparatus provides automaticregulation which responds to an electrical stimulus produced through anabnormal condition in the circuit.

An important feature of this invention is that slight movement of eitherrod I9 or 2I produces a considerable amplified action of the arcuatemember I8 insofar as the longitudinal changes in bridging action isconcerned. The degree of amplification of this mechanical movementdepends upon the radius of curvature of arcuate member IS. A lowerdegree of curvature provides higher amplification so that minutemovements of the controlling wires are considerably enhanced and thesensitivity of the device improved accordingly.

It will further be noted that the mechanical sensitivity can bedecreased as desired by merely varying the point at which wires it or 2!are connected to arcuate member I8. By connecting these wires inwardly,or toward each other, the degree of amplification of the mechanicalmovement is decreased.

Means of rendering the resistance changes more effective are provided asshown in the schematic circuit diagram of Fig. 4, wherein the resistanceelements II and I2 are incorporated in an electrical link 3%, such asmay be employed in many types of electrical circuits.

Transformer 35, which may be the input power transformer of a powersupply, is provided with a step-down secondar 36 forming one end of thelink 36, While transformer BI is provided with a similar step-downwinding 38 forming the other end of the link 34. Arcuate member 18 isshown schematically as a dotted line, serving to bridge the resistanceelements. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that link 34will have flowing therein electrical energy of low voltage and highcurrent relative to the primary of input transformer 35. Since theextent of voltage changes produced by variations in resistance dependupon the amount of current flowing in the circuit, the compensatingeffects of any resistance variations produced by the rocking of arcuatemember I8, will be amplified to a degree proportional to the step-downratio of transformer 35. Winding 33 in link 34, together with step-upWinding 31, serves to restore the original voltage-current relationship.Thus, the resistance variations are provided with an environment wherethey will have the most eiiect.

It is also to be observed that a stepless method of resistance injectionis thus made practical by virtue of the reduced size of the resistanceelements, which is made possible by the current transformation. Suchstepless operation is a highly desirable objective for many reasonsamong which are the elimination of chattering when the degree ofcompensation required can only be obtained by a resistance value betweentwo steps.

While I have described the above apparatus in relation to a voltageregulating system through compensating resistances, it will be apparentthat inductances may be used. Furthermore, the benefits of the inventionmay be realized with the use of only one resistance element II, whereinthe arcuate member I3 serves as the movable arm of a potentiometer, theessential concept residing in the rocking of a co-acting element.

The device illustrated herein may be utilized for the compensation offrequency instability. In such an adaptation, resistance element I I andI2 will be dispense-d with and a capacitor element 39 such asillustrated in Fig. 6 may be used. The capacitor element 39, beingtriangularly shaped, exhibits a progressive change of capacitativefunction along the length thereof. Thus rocking of arcuate member I 8adjacent, but not touching capacitor element 39 as was done in theprevious embodiment, forms a variable condenser the overall capacity ofwhich depends principally upon the portion of capacitative element 39which is brought into capacitative relationship with arcuate member i8according to the rocking move ment thereof. It is realized that thediverging end of arcuate member l8 from the element 39 retains capacityeffect, during rocking action, but such efiects are negligible incomparison to the capacity which is attained through the closerelationship of the condenser elements at the area of co-action. Thefrequency control adaptation may be utilized through a conventionaldiscriminator circuit such as used in frequency modulation systemswhereby deviation from correct frequencies in either direction willproduce a voltage of a particular polarity. Springs 29 and 23 in theapparatus, in cooperation with a normal voltage applied to winding 21 ofelectromagnet 25, may serve to maintain arcuate member it in a normalposition so that the voltage output of the discriminator will add orsubstract from the normal voltage so as to produce corresponding andcompensating movement of arcuate member l8.

If desired, another electromagnet may be added to the lower end of thearcuate member I8, and any type of uni-directi0nal current device suchas a rectifier may be included in each electromagnet circuit so thateach electromagnet would respond according to the polarity of thediscriminator output.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is obviousthat numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing fromits spirit.

I claim:

1. An electrical regulating instrument comprising a pair of elongatedresistance elements each having a progressively higher electricalresistance in proportion to length, an arcuate member adapted to rockover and to co-act with the surfaces of said pair of resistance elementsso as to bridge said resistance elements along progressively varyinglengths thereof during said rocking action said varying lengths beingcontinuously variable resistance areas of said elements, said arcuatemember being of electrically conductive material so that said resistanceelements are joined thereby in an electrical series relationship, springmeans connected to one end of said arcuate member for rocking saidarcuate member toward one end of said pair of resistance elements, andelectromagnet means connected to the other end of said arcuate memberfor rocking said arcuate member toward the other end thereof against theaction of said spring means, and means to energize said electromagnet.

2. An electrical regulating instrument comprising a pair of elongatedresistance elements each having a progressively higher resistance inproportion to length, an arcuate member adapted to coact with thesurfaces of said pair of resistance elements by rocking thereupon so asto bridge said resistance elements along progressively varying portionsthereof during said rocking action said varying lengths beingcontinuously variable resistance areas of said elements, said arcuatemember being of electrically conductive material so that said resistanceelements are caused thereby to be in an electrical relationship forincorporation in an electrical circuit, spring means connected to oneend of said arcuate member for rocking said arcuate member toward oneend of said pair of resistance elements and electromagnet meansconnected to the other end of said arcuate member for rocking saidarcuate member toward the other end thereof against the action of saidspring means, said electromagnet being adapted to be incorporated insaid circuit so as to be energized thereby, whereby increased currentflowing in said circuit causes additional energization of saidelectromagnet and causes said arcuate member to rock toward said otherend of said pair of resistance elements.

JOHN J. ROOT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,683,059 Van Deventer Sept. 4,1928 1,684,461 Van Deventer Sept. 18, 1928 1,817,334 Anderson Aug. 4,1931 1,930,127 Klinkhamer Oct. 10, 1933 2,240,390 Chappell Apr. 29, 19412,364,728 Leece Dec. 12, 1944 2,412,062 Reisberg et al Dec. 3, 1946

